Gangsters—And Their Methods

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 544, 22 December 1928, Page 25

Gangsters —And Their Methods

(Continued from Page 24). quire expert marksmanship with a : pistol, the spreading contents of the j shotgun cartridge make it almost certain that the man for whom it is in- \ tended will receive a deadly serving of the lead. The gunman usually buys the double- ; barrelled shotguns sold everywhere, j but especially those on display in the j windows o» pawnshops and second- I hand establishments. For a few dol- j lars he is able to obtain a weapon I capable of terrific human destruction. I The cartridge contains about an ! ounce of lead. There are cartridges | which contain tiny lead pellets, but these do not serve the ganster s purpose as well as the buckshot, about the size of large peas or “pee-wee” marbles. There are twelve in a cartridge. The length of the barrel helps to keep the lead balls togethei and hinder the tendency to spread, but when fired from a sawed-off barrel, the buckshot forms a larger pattern. Fired from across the street, the shot will cover an area somewhat under three feet, and, it is hardly possible for the pellets to miss the intended victim. , „ This explains why the sawed-oft shotgun is the gunman’s favourite weapon. Men riding in a death-dealing car, already having selected the point where the man marked for killing is to be shot, rest the gun on the window of the car as they come opposite and let the barrels go in quick succession. It does not require experience with firearms to bowl a man over at close range with such ammunition. As the buckshot is made of soft lead, it flattens upon impact with the flesh and tears a hole of increasing size in the tissues. In the McLoon killing the power of the lead at close range was sufficient to knock down the victim, and the wide pattern made by the pellets also found the bodies of hia companions. When stories are given qut of machine-guns being used by fighting gangs, it is igsually an automatic shotgun or an automatic rifle which lias been used, we are told as we read on: Setting up a machine-gun for gang battle is unnecessarily intricate, and the gunman takes to battle the simplest forms of lethal weapons. The sound of a machine-gun is a light and constant patter, but when an automatic rifle or shotgun goes into action the noise has a heavier body. Automatic shotguns are of the single-barrel type with a chamber holding five cartridges. The fresh cartridges are swung into place by a steel spring as the used shot is ejected.

The type of machine-gun which has been sold to gangsters, as disclosed in the Philadelphia investigation of the relation between bootlegging and gang warfare, is the gun which can be fired from the shoulder.

The Browning and Thompson types are both being sold in considerable quantities. Thompson guns were sold to purchasers at 125 dollars each, according to evidence made public by the District Attorney's office in Philadelphia. The accompanying book of instructions stated:—

"A rate of fire of 100 aimed shots a minute can easily be obtained,” Another booklet proclaimed: “Bursts of three to six shots produce most accurate results.”

During the war there was a great outcry at the atrocious barbarity of. using dum-dum bullets, a charge made against the Germans. The cartridge filled with buckshot is literally several dum-dum bullets, because the lead flattens and makes a larger hole in the flesh the farther it penetrates. The owner of the Philadelphia arsenal patronised by gunmen had 450 Vickers machine-guns, capable of firing 100 shots a minute, on March 10, 1927, and by the end of this summer he had sold virtually all of them at 150 dollars each. Seven of the. bullet-proof vests were sold to the so-called king of the bootleggrs, according to the District Attorney's information. The vests were sold for 150 dollars each.

For efficiency the uncle rwo rid uses another very important murder accessory, which is the “silencer,” an attachment which suppresses the noise of the gas explosion by leading the gases resulting from the concussion into a chamber which eases them more slowly into the atmosphere. The “silencer” is attached to the muzzle of the firearm, and makes the sudden onset of death a ghostly visitation.

Concentration Did It.—Betty came running into the house in a state of great excitement. “Bobbv Smith kissed tnol” she announced at the top of her shrill voice. "Why, Betty.” cried her mother, “what did he do that for?” “Well —I’m not sure—but I. think I have the stronger will.” * * s Not a Waiter.—Henderson's evening dress was rather old-fashioned. His figure was not one which showed clothes to advantage, either. One evening, as he stood in the vestibule of a largo restaurant waiting for his wife, a tall, pompous-looking man came up to him. “I say, my man. are you the head waiter?” lie drawled. What Henderson lacked in bearing he made up for in quick thinking. Without a sign of hesitation fie turned to the other. “No,” he said; “but I heard him tell a young fellow this afternoon that he didn’t want to see any more applicants for jobs.’*